Ask Chuck: Financial framework for a happy 2025
Dear Chuck,
We are tired of living on the edge. We want to get our financial house in order in the New Year. Can you give me a framework that my husband and I can rally around to finally get focused and make real progress?
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Financial Resolution in 2025
Dear Financial Resolution in 2025,
Happy New Year! Yes, I am excited to give advice to help you and your husband. I think resolutions are a great way to get focused on a unifying goal. The framework I propose will help you make spiritual and financial progress. In essence, it will define what it means to be a faithful steward of your resources.
Switch from an owner to a steward
First and foremost, remember that you are a steward entrusted with what God provides.
Everything is His; we simply manage it for a short time on Earth. The goal of a steward is to be faithful to the Lord with all that He provides. Meditate on these two verses at least once a week in the coming year.
“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all …” (1 Chronicles 29:11–12a ESV).
“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1a NIV).
Control your spending
Establish a budget to eliminate the fear and anxiety of wondering if bills can be paid. Debt can set you back months, years, and even decades, with interest payments and missed opportunities to save and invest. A budget prevents you from spending more than you earn. A variety of good methods to budget are available. Each will take some time to prepare, but the benefits are countless.
WalletHub compared 17 different budgeting apps. Several are free and don’t require linking your bank accounts. Read online reviews before deciding on one. Spreadsheet programs like Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, or OpenOffice Calc are also beneficial tools for budgeting. For additional help, go to Crown.org.
Establish emergency savings
Start by setting a goal of $1,000 with automatic transfers to an account that you refuse to touch except for true emergencies. Try to end the year with one to three months of your current expenses in this fund. Money set aside for this purpose will prevent you from having to use a credit card when the unexpected hits — which it will! You might as well learn to expect the unexpected! An emergency fund grants you financial protection and lowers your stress.
Pay off credit cards
Assuming you have a credit card or two, resolve to never carry a balance. Paying 25% or more for this kind of debt is financial suicide. Set a goal to pay off balances as quickly as possible. Use the avalanche or snowball methods and possibly a balance transfer. Crown offers online courses, and we recommend Christian Credit Counselors when needed.
Carry adequate insurance
Life is unpredictable, and insurance provides protection from unforeseen losses and contingencies. I have provided links to the five types of insurance that will help you avoid a catastrophic loss:
Manage your health
Be proactive in taking care of your mental and physical health. Eat healthy food, work out, take time off, spend time with friends, get outdoors more often, get more sleep, and guard against worry.
The financial savings add up when you consider protection from long-term disease, fewer doctor visits, lower absenteeism at work, and a reduced incidence of catastrophic injury or death. Ask the Lord to break the strongholds of unhealthy addictions. Seek accountability, then fervently pray for self-discipline and the motivation to glorify God in your body — the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Learn to be content
Ignore the world’s pull to stretch your finances with bigger and better things. A bigger house and newer car come with hidden costs that can threaten your financial well-being years from now. Recognize that this life is temporary. Spending less creates the ability to increase giving, saving, and investing. Now is the time to prepare for the future both here and into eternity. In practice, say no to things you want today so you can say yes to what you need for tomorrow.
Be slow and steady
It is easy to fall for “get rich quick” schemes or to look for shortcuts to accelerate your progress. I have found all of those gimmicks to be financial traps. Beware of “once in a lifetime” opportunities. Urgency, exaggerated language, guaranteed income, or the requirement to recruit people to earn more money are red flags. When profit-making details are missing or cloudy, question the deal. Flee job opportunities that require money upfront or guaranteed results with no skill or experience required. Think the lottery is harmless? For most people, the return is only the paper on which the tickets are printed. That goes for any kind of gambling. Don’t do it.
“Steady plodding brings prosperity; hasty speculation brings poverty” (Proverbs 21:5 TLB).
Keep an eternal perspective
You will make great progress uniting around this framework. Set practical goals, and don’t give up or turn back. I also want you to think about your eternal future. Operating as God’s faithful steward reaps true riches and lasting treasures in Heaven. I can’t think of any greater aspiration.
“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have,
for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Hebrews 13:5 ESV).
This verse implies money will leave us — but Jesus won’t! That is great news for the New Year and for all eternity!
To jumpstart your financial framework, consider a Crown budget coach. Your coach will work with you to develop a customized spending plan and debt-elimination strategy to put you on the road to financial freedom!
Chuck Bentley is CEO of Crown Financial Ministries, a global Christian ministry, founded by the late Larry Burkett. He is the host of a daily radio broadcast, My MoneyLife, featured on more than 1,000 Christian Music and Talk stations in the U.S., and author of his most recent book, Economic Evidence for God?. Be sure to follow Crown on Facebook.
